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Just bought the Benq XL2420T. Good investment ?

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  • BenQ
  • World Of Warcraft
  • Monitors
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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May 27, 2013 4:00:02 PM


So i just bought the BenQ XL2420T from microcenter and was trying to get some other opinions .

Things i like so far are the colors are very vivid and bright altogether it looks like it is quality built however the one thing i'm concerned about is the main selling point of the monitor, which is that it is 120Hz. I can definitely feel how fluid it is in FPS alot smoother but i'm not sure if it is running at 120Hz in WoW (which is my primary game) according to the monitors system menu it says it is running at 1920x1080 120Hz. maybe it is just me being paranoid because of what i just spent on it.

So opinions are welcome does this seem like a good choice or could i have done better?

*UPDATE*

So i have done a bit more reading and it seems i may have made a mistake by buying this monitor seeing as most games i play my frames get to about 60-70 max only game i can play at 120FPS is black ops 2 which honestly i do not play that much. If what i read is correct then with 120hz monitor if your only getting 60 FPS then it is really it is a waste. Is that true?

As far as the colors go i feel like i can probably achieve that by tweaking some setting in my graphics settings.

More about : bought benq xl2420t good investment

a b C Monitor
May 27, 2013 4:06:06 PM

For a 120Hz monitor benefits you need the grunt to run your games above 100fps+ this usually entails an overclocked CPU and SLI/Crossfire.
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May 27, 2013 4:08:28 PM

There are 2 other benefits to the monitor:
1) no motion blur. Read: http://www.blurbusters.com/zero-motion-blur/lightboost/
2) 3D Vision.

You do not have to have 120 FPS to notice a difference. I notice a definitely improvement with as little as 70-80 FPS. This is especially true if you use v-sync.
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May 27, 2013 4:20:49 PM

This is my systems specs i probably should have added this earlier.
CPU: i5 3750K (4.2Ghz 1.16V)
COOLER: Hyper 212+
MOBO: Asrock Z77 Extreme 4
RAM: 8GB (4GBx2) Corsair Vengance DDR3 PC1600
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970
PSU: 750W PC Cooling and Sons
HDD: 500GB Seagate 7500 RPM
OS: 64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium

honest truth is i really do not plan on gaming in 3D so that is more or less a waste for me. as far as vsync goes i never really have it turned on. On another forum where i posted someone recommended a getting a Korean made IPS monitor capable of higher resolutions such as 2560x1440. The main game i play is WoW possibly BF4, CoD Ghosts, and The Elder Scrolls Online when it releases. If u guys havent figured it out it has been a reallllllyyy long time since i last bought a monitor so there are alot more choice then what there use to be i'm just trying to find the best thing that will fit me and what i enjoy the most.
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May 27, 2013 4:22:56 PM

If you are willing to lower a few settings, you can easily get higher FPS in many games. Though CPU bound games will hold you back, most games aren't.
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May 27, 2013 4:48:01 PM

bystander said:
If you are willing to lower a few settings, you can easily get higher FPS in many games. Though CPU bound games will hold you back, most games aren't.


a 3570k at 4.2 ghz would not bottleneck ANY CPU bound games... Most MMO/online FPS are generally optimized terribly and even with a better processor (overclocked hexacore for example), doesn't perform much better...

His bet is to get another 7970 and run it in CFX and overclock both of them a bit further or he could just sell his monitor and get a regular monitor lol.
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May 27, 2013 5:11:42 PM

killerhurtalot said:
bystander said:
If you are willing to lower a few settings, you can easily get higher FPS in many games. Though CPU bound games will hold you back, most games aren't.


a 3570k at 4.2 ghz would not bottleneck ANY CPU bound games... Most MMO/online FPS are generally optimized terribly and even with a better processor (overclocked hexacore for example), doesn't perform much better...

His bet is to get another 7970 and run it in CFX and overclock both of them a bit further or he could just sell his monitor and get a regular monitor lol.


You are a bit naive to think that a 3570k, or any CPU at any clock rate would not bottleneck any game. Example:



As you can see, almost any GPU maxes out the game with the same FPS, which shows the GPU's are being held back significantly. You can also see that the faster the CPU, the higher the FPS go.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/neverwinter-perform...
As the link says, it is bottlenecked by the CPU.
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May 27, 2013 5:27:24 PM

bystander said:
killerhurtalot said:
bystander said:
If you are willing to lower a few settings, you can easily get higher FPS in many games. Though CPU bound games will hold you back, most games aren't.


a 3570k at 4.2 ghz would not bottleneck ANY CPU bound games... Most MMO/online FPS are generally optimized terribly and even with a better processor (overclocked hexacore for example), doesn't perform much better...

His bet is to get another 7970 and run it in CFX and overclock both of them a bit further or he could just sell his monitor and get a regular monitor lol.


You are a bit naive to think that a 3570k, or any CPU at any clock rate would not bottleneck any game. Example:



As you can see, almost any GPU maxes out the game with the same FPS, which shows the GPU's are being held back significantly. You can also see that the faster the CPU, the higher the FPS go.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/neverwinter-perform...
As the link says, it is bottlenecked by the CPU.


that graph doesn't even show a overclocked IB or sandy bridge-E chip... all it shows is mediocre AMD CPUs with a stock clocked 3550... the fastest chip they have on there a 3550 clocked at 3.3ghz which is FAR from 3570k or 3770k or 3930k clocked at 4.2+ ghz....

There's a couple of CPU bound games... but at those CPU speeds, their frame rate is far above 60 fps...

And like I said. MMOs are usually TERRIBLY CPU optimized once the CPU gets past a certain performance point and the return diminishes really quick...
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May 27, 2013 5:47:53 PM

Whoa now before i lose you guys in the heated argument lol here are some other monitors i have to choose from cause deep deep down i feel as if i could have done a little bit better in choosing the right display

first up we have
Auria EQ276W 27-Inch IPS LED Monitor
http://www.microcenter.com/product/384780/EQ276W_27-Inc...

This one is nice because it is IPS and is also capable of 2560x1440 another plus is it has a 5MS response time which from what i have see looks like it is decent for larger IPS display (27")

ASUS VG248QE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Reasons i looked at this one is it seems like it can do the same thing as the one i just spent 400$ on and it is almost 150$ cheaper

But as previously stated i am a noob when i comes to these thing but a few thing to know i am a hardcore WoW player i do like FPS but i wouldn't say i'm competitive
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May 27, 2013 6:44:01 PM

killerhurtalot said:
that graph doesn't even show a overclocked IB or sandy bridge-E chip... all it shows is mediocre AMD CPUs with a stock clocked 3550... the fastest chip they have on there a 3550 clocked at 3.3ghz which is FAR from 3570k or 3770k or 3930k clocked at 4.2+ ghz....

There's a couple of CPU bound games... but at those CPU speeds, their frame rate is far above 60 fps...

And like I said. MMOs are usually TERRIBLY CPU optimized once the CPU gets past a certain performance point and the return diminishes really quick...


The i5 in that chart was at 3.7Ghz (boost). Anyways, the point is pretty clear that many games bottleneck on even the fastest i7 at even 5Ghz when you look to reach high FPS and sometimes much lower. Sometimes the bottlenecks are more mild. I only posted that one because it was still on the front page, and showed a very clear bottleneck. .5ghz is not going to suddenly open up the game. I run it on an i7 at 4ghz, and also get bottlenecked in the game. In town I can't get much higher than 50, in smaller maps I'm over 120 FPS. That's just how it works with 120hz monitors.

You just don't know about how often CPU's are the bottleneck until you have 120hz monitor.
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May 27, 2013 6:52:17 PM

bystander said:
killerhurtalot said:
that graph doesn't even show a overclocked IB or sandy bridge-E chip... all it shows is mediocre AMD CPUs with a stock clocked 3550... the fastest chip they have on there a 3550 clocked at 3.3ghz which is FAR from 3570k or 3770k or 3930k clocked at 4.2+ ghz....

There's a couple of CPU bound games... but at those CPU speeds, their frame rate is far above 60 fps...

And like I said. MMOs are usually TERRIBLY CPU optimized once the CPU gets past a certain performance point and the return diminishes really quick...


The i5 in that chart was at 3.7Ghz (boost). Anyways, the point is pretty clear that many games bottleneck on even the fastest i7 at even 5Ghz when you look to reach high FPS and sometimes much lower. Sometimes the bottlenecks are more mild. I only posted that one because it was still on the front page, and showed a very clear bottleneck. .5ghz is not going to suddenly open up the game. I run it on an i7 at 4ghz, and also get bottlenecked in the game. In town I can't get much higher than 50, in smaller maps I'm over 120 FPS. That's just how it works with 120hz monitors.

You just don't know about how often CPU's are the bottleneck until you have 120hz monitor.


you know that the "max turbo boost" speed is limited for one core only right... not all 4 cores will boost to 3.7ghz... When all 4 cores are active, it will barely "boost" a extra 100mhz...

And I call that bad programing.... with my set-up, I'm fine with 50 people in a PVE zone in Guild wars 2... if i'm with 50 people in WVW or in town, it drops to 35-40 fps... (overclocking from stock to 4.22 ghz only improved it in town by roughly 3 fps average... and around 5-10 fps in PVE zones....)

And regardless of having a 120hz monitor or not, the system would still put out over 60 fps if vsync isn't turned on so you would still see how cpu overclock would affect frame rates. (we look at it above 60 fps in terms of future proofing even if we can't see it on our monitors)...
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May 27, 2013 8:57:04 PM

killerhurtalot said:
you know that the "max turbo boost" speed is limited for one core only right... not all 4 cores will boost to 3.7ghz... When all 4 cores are active, it will barely "boost" a extra 100mhz...

And I call that bad programing.... with my set-up, I'm fine with 50 people in a PVE zone in Guild wars 2... if i'm with 50 people in WVW or in town, it drops to 35-40 fps... (overclocking from stock to 4.22 ghz only improved it in town by roughly 3 fps average... and around 5-10 fps in PVE zones....)

And regardless of having a 120hz monitor or not, the system would still put out over 60 fps if vsync isn't turned on so you would still see how cpu overclock would affect frame rates. (we look at it above 60 fps in terms of future proofing even if we can't see it on our monitors)...


There you go, you run into CPU bottlenecks too. Whether the code could be better or not, the CPU bottlenecks you in those games. That is exactly what I'm saying. When you have a 120hz monitor, trying to achieve high FPS, these things matter even more.

Even if the code could be better or not, doesn't change that a faster CPU helps overcome the bottleneck, and is why I said that no CPU avoids bottlenecks. Bad code or not, doesn't change that those games are CPU bound.
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May 27, 2013 9:00:56 PM

bystander said:
killerhurtalot said:
you know that the "max turbo boost" speed is limited for one core only right... not all 4 cores will boost to 3.7ghz... When all 4 cores are active, it will barely "boost" a extra 100mhz...

And I call that bad programing.... with my set-up, I'm fine with 50 people in a PVE zone in Guild wars 2... if i'm with 50 people in WVW or in town, it drops to 35-40 fps... (overclocking from stock to 4.22 ghz only improved it in town by roughly 3 fps average... and around 5-10 fps in PVE zones....)

And regardless of having a 120hz monitor or not, the system would still put out over 60 fps if vsync isn't turned on so you would still see how cpu overclock would affect frame rates. (we look at it above 60 fps in terms of future proofing even if we can't see it on our monitors)...


There you go, you run into CPU bottlenecks too. Whether the code could be better or not, the CPU bottlenecks you in those games. That is exactly what I'm saying. When you have a 120hz monitor, trying to achieve high FPS, these things matter even more.

Even if the code could be better or not, doesn't change that a faster CPU helps overcome the bottleneck, and is the reason I said not to go cheap on the CPU.


brute forcing poorly optimized code gives diminishing returns... since at that point, it's waiting for the software to respond rather than the CPU to process them....

And besides. MMOs doesn't need anything higher than 60 fps lol.
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May 27, 2013 9:11:12 PM

It's a CPU bottleneck any way you look at it and whether you need more than 60 FPS depends on the person. He obviously wanted more or he wouldn't have gotten a 120hz monitor.
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May 27, 2013 9:19:55 PM

bystander said:
It's a CPU bottleneck any way you look at it and whether you need more than 60 FPS depends on the person. He obviously wanted more or he wouldn't have gotten a 120hz monitor.


and that's why he's back here again asking about monitors.

l0t3k said:
So i have done a bit more reading and it seems i may have made a mistake by buying this monitor seeing as most games i play my frames get to about 60-70 max only game i can play at 120FPS is black ops 2 which honestly i do not play that much. If what i read is correct then with 120hz monitor if your only getting 60 FPS then it is really it is a waste. Is that true?
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May 27, 2013 9:27:00 PM

So how does you telling him an i5 at 4.2ghz can't be bottlenecked, help him? What you said makes it sound like he can get 120hz in any game, when clearly he can't.

That said, in many games you'll be CPU bottlenecked before 120hz, but it is reasonable to turn down settings to increase FPS in games that are not CPU bound. Some games will depend on the situation. Like Bf3 on 64 man maps are CPU bound, but single player and small maps are not.

I also find that I see improvements up to 80 FPS at least, as that is the point I stop feeling nauseated in 1st person. Clearly some sort of smoothness difference helps up to at least that point.
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May 27, 2013 9:41:35 PM

bystander said:
So how does you telling him an i5 at 4.2ghz can't be bottlenecked, help him? What you said makes it sound like he can get 120hz in any game, when clearly he can't.

That said, in many games you'll be CPU bottlenecked before 120hz, but it is reasonable to turn down settings to increase FPS in games that are not CPU bound. Some games will depend on the situation. Like Bf3 on 64 man maps are CPU bound, but single player and small maps are not.

I also find that I see improvements up to 80 FPS at least, as that is the point I stop feeling nauseated in 1st person. Clearly some sort of smoothness difference helps up to at least that point.


when did i say that lol. you should read what he said before you post...

and by many games you mean mmos and a few RTS games and some FPS games that gives ridiculous physics options. (yes... that includes high player# bf3 servers)

And why bother with a 120hz monitor when his computer can't even push most games close to it?



And As for the recommendation, I would just get a Dell u2312HM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...


Pretty much one of the best low end IPS panels around. Really good contrast, color accuracy, and color conformity, and especially response time. (it's pretty much the same panel as the u2412HM but it's $100 cheaper and 1" smaller.)

here's a review compared to some of the other monitors.
http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/dell_u2312hm.htm
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May 28, 2013 9:45:23 AM

killerhurtalot said:
And why bother with a 120hz monitor when his computer can't even push most games close to it?


There are a number of reasons, but 1st and foremost, games are much more responsive when I have 80+ FPS on a 120hz monitor.

This also removes nausea for me in first person games. Prior to going this way, I used to get sick all the time in first person games. I no longer do.

3D Vision is awesome.

And while most games won't let you hit 120hz, or at least the games I play, most let me get to 80+ FPS.

killerhurtalot said:
a 3570k at 4.2 ghz would not bottleneck ANY CPU bound games...

Sure looks like you wrote that you can't be bottlenecked.
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